Conducting your job search during college can be confusing, chaotic and a little last-minute — but it doesn’t have to be.
WayUp spoke with former campus recruiter for Venmo and the Head of University Partnerships at WayUp, Liane Hajduch, to get advice on the types of jobs you should target for all four years of college. We came up with a job search trajectory that will help you plan out your career path well before you walk on stage to receive your diploma. If you’ve been confused about whether or not you’re too old to take a counselor role at the camp you’ve been attending since you were 11…well, this timeline will help.
Freshman Year
Welcome to college, froshies. As you register for classes, dodge the Freshman 15, bond with your roommates over dining hall food and sign up for more student groups than even Hermione and her time turner could handle, the last thing on your mind is getting a job. The good news is that that’s OK. You can give yourself time your first semester to get accustomed to the sights and sounds of college life before diving into potential job interests.
If you don’t know what you want to do during your freshman year, that’s normal. Liane recommends being flexible when you begin your first college job search: “There are tons of opportunities out there, all of which can help you prepare for an awesome internship the following few years. Don’t stress about the specific job or industry – whatever you do, you will learn valuable and marketable skills that will translate into all of your future jobs and internships.” If you want to take that camp counselor role, that’s fine – as long as it allows you to develop the necessary skills (leadership, teamwork, etc.) you’ll need to position yourself for a sophomore year job.
Liane also recommends trying virtual jobs, which will allow you to gain experience and make money without the stress of commuting from school to work. An added advantage? Virtual jobs are “often more flexible in what class years they hire,” says Liane.
Sophomore Year
By sophomore year, you’ve gotten the hang of college (kind of). You know the social landscape of campus, you have an idea of which classes to take and which ones to avoid and you definitely know which friends you probably shouldn’t bring to the library with you when you need to buckle down. This is the year that many college students choose their major, so you’re probably starting to think about your interests and where you want them to take you — both in college and beyond.
“While you should continue to be flexible, more and more formal internship programs are hiring sophomores each year,” Liane says. “So spend some time thinking about the jobs you’re interested in and the industry you want to be in. It is never too early to start networking. Even if you cannot find your dream internship, there are a lot of one-time gigs and shadow opportunities out there that are just as meaningful and impressive as formal intern programs.”
Junior Year
Junior year has no chill. It’s internship season and the competition can get intense.
“I cannot stress it enough: The process starts early!” Liane insists. “Many top companies use their junior year internship program as their main pipeline for full-time hiring the following year, so you’ll really have a leg up if you spend time looking for awesome junior year internships.”
Look for opportunities that are reflective of your interests and will challenge you – employers want to see that you have a genuine passion and that you’re able to take your responsibilities and turn them into measurable results. Seeking out internships like that will put you in a great position to receive a full-time offer or get a similar offer from a company impressed by your junior year internship.
Senior Year
There’s a certain sense of freedom that comes with your senior year: Whereas freshman year, you’d planned your first-day-of-school outfit a week in advance and arrived to class 15 minutes early, you now regularly roll into lecture 10 minutes late in sweatpants — that is, if you grace the professor with your presence at all. ;)
While senior year – and especially senior spring – is a crazy exciting time, which we here at WayUp deeply miss, it’s also overwhelming. You’re an emotional ball of nostalgia, FOMO and panic — especially panic if your summer internship didn’t lead to a full-time offer.
“Most students aren’t lucky enough to receive a full-time offer before the summer is up,” Liane says. “And most employers cannot even extend offers until much closer to your graduation date.” She recommends continuing networking: “Things open up all the time, and you want to be the first person a recruiter thinks of when that opening pops up.” Check out our tips on getting hired your senior year.
It’s not easy navigating college and your career path, but luckily you have tons of resources in college that will help you along the way. Schedule a meeting with your career center, connect with alumni in your desired industry to get answers to your questions and of course, apply to the thousands of college jobs open to freshmen, sophomores, juniors and graduating seniors on WayUp.
